Right, no local insertions here..but...don’t forget the aerobatic pilot and his catheters!

I have noticed that the local commercials on AntennaTV (an example is the Gastonia Nissan commercial between 10 and 11PM tonight) are sometimes significantly louder than the national commercials. I must say that’s a bit annoying - by the time I find the remote and lower the volume, the national feed is back on, requiring me to increase the volume again.

I didn't know him but I certainly know of him. There was a story that he had left WSOC-TV for a station in a bigger market when his Polio became debilitating and he was confined to a wheelchair. Evidently this wasn't going to work with whatever the new position was. He came back to Charlotte and Channel 9 took him back. So he must have been well liked.

I would see Mr Callihan on occasion but I don't recall ever speaking to him. He didn't appear to be in the best of moods whenever I saw him so I gave him lots of room.

I don’t recall that he ever left channel 9. He anchored the news from a wheelchair. I believe WSOC station manager was his last job. He died in 1995.

I never met him in person, but spoke to him on the phone, and he couldn’t have been nicer.

I have noticed that the local commercials on AntennaTV (an example is the Gastonia Nissan commercial between 10 and 11PM tonight) are sometimes significantly louder than the national commercials. I must say that’s a bit annoying - by the time I find the remote and lower the volume, the national feed is back on, requiring me to increase the volume again.

I’ll look into that..God knows some of these car dealers are annoying enough without that!

Didn't Jack Callaghan host an afternoon kiddie show on WSOC during the late 50s/early 60s? He was like a sea captain or something manning a lighthouse with a hand puppet companion? Maybe Brooks Lindsay's Joey the Clown/Clown Carnival took over that slot in the 1960s going forward. Or maybe my memory is just playing tricks on me.

Just found out what wccb's 18.6 is going to be a channel called DABL tv. A lifestyle network that will broadcast Martha Stewart living and Emiril cooking. It is owned by CBS, and is expected to go live on Sept. 9th. I do not believe this channel will do well, I live between Hickory and Morganton and I am able to pick up Wate Knoxville, an ABC affiliate which at one time, had a sub channel LWN (live well network) in which broadcasted similar things only lasted 7 months before Wate dumped it. I found the information about Dabl being listed on rabbit ears, you can read a little article on it if you Google dabl tv and variety in the search engine.

Just found out what wccb's 18.6 is going to be a channel called DABL tv. A lifestyle network that will broadcast Martha Stewart living and Emiril cooking. It is owned by CBS, and is expected to go live on Sept. 9th. I do not believe this channel will do well, I live between Hickory and Morganton and I am able to pick up Wate Knoxville, an ABC affiliate which at one time, had a sub channel LWN (live well network) in which broadcasted similar things only lasted 7 months before Wate dumped it. I found the information about Dabl being listed on rabbit ears, you can read a little article on it if you Google dabl tv and variety in the search engine.

It may appeal to a certain demographic, but we shall see. But it must be a favorable business decision for them to agree to carry it.

Just found out what wccb's 18.6 is going to be a channel called DABL tv. A lifestyle network that will broadcast Martha Stewart living and Emiril cooking. It is owned by CBS, and is expected to go live on Sept. 9th. I do not believe this channel will do well, I live between Hickory and Morganton and I am able to pick up Wate Knoxville, an ABC affiliate which at one time, had a sub channel LWN (live well network) in which broadcasted similar things only lasted 7 months before Wate dumped it. I found the information about Dabl being listed on rabbit ears, you can read a little article on it if you Google dabl tv and variety in the search engine.

QVC generates more revenue than AntennaTv.
DABL will generate more revenue than any of the other subs we have, including Me.
DECADES projections were no where close.

I can remember back in the 70’s when channel 9 ran three prime time local movies per week, preempting a number of NBC shows that I wanted to see. They also preempted half of the network Saturday morning cartoons in favor of old reruns and local programs. The answer I was given as to why, was that local commercials generate several times the revenue of national commercials, regardless of how many people are watching. Based on that, I am surprised a pass through network generates more revenue than local spots. I also don’t understand the idea that local spots require more production costs and efforts - I thought that was all digitally timed and programmed by computer ahead of time, instead of a control room person putting reels on as they are broadcast.

I am also interested in knowing how much the station and/or the sub channel network(s) care about ratings. I was told by the program manager at WSOC that every time a viewer expressed an opinion, they considered there to be 1000 people out there who agreed with it. Based on how many people here on the forum want Decades, I believe it would do well. Decades is unique. Dabl sounds like another Create, another LWN (which is now defunct) or another DIY.

TiVo for me! Got a Roameo with the lifetime guide service and it works great!

I've been heavily invested in TiVo for years. It is a *very* user friendly device with a nice looking guide lineup that probably can't be beat in that respect. But from a marketing and customer service standpoint, I do think they have lost their way (so to speak) in recent years. This is kind of unfortunate given the fact that TiVo was the pioneer of the DVR.

At present, I want to learn more about HDHomeRun and what it has to offer. There appears to be lots of people on here that have many positive things to say about these devices. No doubt, they are more involved to set up, but they appear to offer the potential to do even more than TiVo over a home network.

I've been heavily invested in TiVo for years. It is a *very* user friendly device with a nice looking guide lineup that probably can't be beat in that respect. But from a marketing and customer service standpoint, I do think they have lost their way (so to speak) in recent years. This is kind of unfortunate given the fact that TiVo was the pioneer of the DVR.

At present, I want to learn more about HDHomeRun and what it has to offer. There appears to be lots of people on here that have many positive things to say about these devices. No doubt, they are more involved to set up, but they appear to offer the potential to do even more than TiVo over a home network.

I love my three Channel Master over the air DVRs. I like watching TV on my 70” screen, not on an iPad. Hook them to the internet, and you can watch numerous internet cable channels, and run popular apps.

I am also interested in knowing how much the station and/or the sub channel network(s) care about ratings. I was told by the program manager at WSOC that every time a viewer expressed an opinion, they considered there to be 1000 people out there who agreed with it. Based on how many people here on the forum want Decades, I believe it would do well. Decades is unique. Dabl sounds like another Create, another LWN (which is now defunct) or another DIY.

You are exactly right, there are many people on this forum (and no doubt elsewhere) that like (or would like) Decades more so than 'some' of the other subs being offered. I enjoyed watching it occasionally on WCNC and think it's unfortunate that it was dropped from WCNC. That said, I think (as has been mentioned on here before) that it's also a factor of what a station feels is most beneficial to them from the revenue side of the house versus popularity. We have no idea what they are getting paid to air one sub versus another.

But hopefully another station will pick them up. WJZY appears to be maxed out with their two HD feeds and the very large number of subs they've already got. But maybe there's hope that WBTV or WSOC may consider them in the future. At my location, I have access to the GSO and CLT markets. And I can tell you that no Greensboro station carries Decades either at this time. On another level, it does raise an interesting question. And that is, at what point is any sub profitable for a station *if* there aren't sufficient eyeballs looking at it along with the associated commercials?

My personal favorites (as far as subs) would be MeTV, Antenna TV, and Movies! (on WJZY)….and of course Decades when it was available. The first two of those subs being aired in both the Triad and Charlotte markets whereas Movies! is only on WJZY (in my two markets).

I've been heavily invested in TiVo for years. It is a *very* user friendly device with a nice looking guide lineup that probably can't be beat in that respect. But from a marketing and customer service standpoint, I do think they have lost their way (so to speak) in recent years. This is kind of unfortunate given the fact that TiVo was the pioneer of the DVR.

At present, I want to learn more about HDHomeRun and what it has to offer. There appears to be lots of people on here that have many positive things to say about these devices. No doubt, they are more involved to set up, but they appear to offer the potential to do even more than TiVo over a home network.

I started out a long time ago with a DirecTivo back when they were new and I had DirecTV. That was the one thing I missed when I gave up DirecTV. I eventually bought a Premier to use off air in a second room after I got cable to see how I would like it thinking in the back of my mind I'd one day be a cord cutter. Tried the Premier with cable and the cable card and box but it never worked for me so I gave that junk back to the cable company.

Was happily using the Premier which by this time was quite old but working great, then came the deal with free guide on the Roamio so I bought it. I just gave the Premier to a friend of mine. As far as I know it's still chugging along recording shows. Not bad for how little I paid for it!

A friend of mine is always talking about his Home Run. He has a home network that looks like master control. He just bought a 48 port switch for his home network! I like to keep things simple with my TiVo, Apple TV and another set with built in Roku. Built in Roku is cool, no extra boxes hanging around!

I started out a long time ago with a DirecTivo back when they were new and I had DirecTV. That was the one thing I missed when I gave up DirecTV. I eventually bought a Premier to use off air in a second room after I got cable to see how I would like it thinking in the back of my mind I'd one day be a cord cutter. Tried the Premier with cable and the cable card and box but it never worked for me so I gave that junk back to the cable company.

Was happily using the Premier which by this time was quite old but working great, then came the deal with free guide on the Roamio so I bought it. I just gave the Premier to a friend of mine. As far as I know it's still chugging along recording shows. Not bad for how little I paid for it!

A friend of mine is always talking about his Home Run. He has a home network that looks like master control. He just bought a 48 port switch for his home network! I like to keep things simple with my TiVo, Apple TV and another set with built in Roku. Built in Roku is cool, no extra boxes hanging around!

I've had a TiVo Premiere since 2011 that is still chugging along as well. It still works great...well that is provided you don't try to navigate to other apps (i.e. Netflix, Amazon, etc.). The Premieres were never much good for moving in and out of those apps.

A couple of years ago, I found a really good buy on a Roamio (on sale) with the free guide for the life. It has a much snappier interface versus the Premiere (moving into other apps). But what I don't like about it is the 4 tuners. TiVo seems to promote these large number of tuners. But the thing is (in my opinion), it really isn't necessary to have that many tuners with an OTA DVR box and tends to weaken the signal strength without proper amplification. Pros and cons with everything I guess.

I agree with you though, TiVos are very simple to use, easy setup and a great TV guide view. But I do want to learn more about the Home Run, not for anything as involved as your friend's master control network, but more basic options like combining two Home Runs (servicing separate antennas) into a single network feed whereby I can combine the best of both antennas - facing different directions for separate markets. My house is hard wired (each room) for internet, so that part is easy.

. And I can tell you that no Greensboro station carries Decades either at this time. On another level, it does raise an interesting question. And that is, at what point is any sub profitable for a station *if* there aren't sufficient eyeballs looking at it along with the associated commercials?.

Hmm.. Maybe You're onto something there Evan..

Bob

The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, MeTv, or AntennaTv; my employer; or its parent company.
Nor my wife for that matter!

Is WSOC antenna upgrade just routine maintenance, or in preparation for ATSC 3.0?

It is for the repacks as mandated by the government, as a result of the spectrum auction that took place. But from my understanding, the new equipment upgrades (after the repacks) will put stations in a far better/easier place *if* they choose to voluntarily adopt ATSC 3.0 in 2020 and beyond.

I live in Hickory. When W42DR-D was still active, I was able to capture WSOC-TV on 6.1 and 6.2 - could not get WSOC-TV off of main tower in Charlotte on 9.1 and 9.2 - Now that W42DR-D is history and W26FA-D is active, am I correct that the directional transmission pattern has been changed and basically no longer transmitting an eastward signal from Marion? That the pattern is only north, south and west of Marion. If so, then I need to seek a different way to receive WSOC-TV. Possibly trying a different antenna or moving to a location with more favorable terrain.